The third and
the
most important aspect of the revivalist process concerns the role of the organisations
and societies that have established for the sole purpose
of Islamic resurgence. Such groups have
been working under different names
in many Muslim countries, but their efforts and aims are essentially identical and they
form
variegated aspects of a single movement.
Among these
parties the
‘Al-Ikhwan al-Muslimun’ which originated
in Egypt had become the centre of attention and
religious
aspirations for many because of the intense fervour and the wide range of its influence. But even in the aspect of the
all-round process
of revival,
the Indo-Pakistan
subcontinent
excels other Muslim
areas.
The late Maulana Abul Kalam Azad
was
the first person to
summon people
towards the
movement of reviving
the spirit of Islam, and so deserves to be called the founder of this movement in the
Indo-Pakistan
subcontinent. In the earlier part of this century
he sounded
in the pages of his magazines ‘Al-Balagh’ and
‘Al-Hilal’ a clarion call for the establishment of Divine sovereignty and
the
formation of ‘Hizbullah’, the party of Allah (SWT), for this
purpose. His distinguished style
of writing and
oratory, especially
during
the course of 'Khilafat
Movement’ made him
popular throughout the subcontinent. His impassioned
call
and charismatic personality conquered the hearts of millions of Muslims. But soon after, for reasons known only to Allah (SWT),
he left this great mission and joined the Indian national congress. For the rest of his life
he dedicated
himself to the politics of Indian nationalism
with
utmost sincerity and
perseverance.
Of the many reasons for this spectacular change in
the life of Maulana Azad, one crucial factor might be his
extraordinary intelligence.
He was admittedly a genius, and geniuses
are usually not men of action.
Incidentally, some trace of this is found in one of his sayings: ’We have committed the crime of wearing the cloak of piety and
the blanket of vagrancy at the
same time’. Also, neither he
was formally qualified from any well-established religious seminary,
nor was he acknowledged as a religious scholar. Hence, the scholars were not ready to accept
him as a leader or heed his
advice.
At that
time the religious divines had a firm grip on the Muslims of India, so
he found
all doors
closed
to him to lead the Indian Muslims in efforts to bring about an Islamic revolution. Professor
Yusuf Saleem Chishti
confirmed this
in his
anecdote
about Maulana Azad. After performing the preliminary work
of
Qur’anic dissemination laboriously and
with
utmost zeal for
about ten years, he planned
to take a step further
in co-operation with late Mufti Kifayatullah and late
Maulana Ahmed Saeed, in 1922, at a conference of Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind
held in Delhi. Maulana Azad addressed
first and through his excellent oratory was able
to rouse and motivate the
audience to action. Then, Maulana Ahmed Saeed spoke and said, “After the
death of Shaikh-ul-Hind,
the chair of the leadership of the Indian Muslims has remained unoccupied. Presently, we
have a greater need of an Imam-ul-Hind than a Shaikh-ul-Hind10. Now think
over and find out the most suitable person for
that
chair, and
become his disciples to launch the struggle for Islamic
revival afresh”. But Allah (SWT) had not decreed this
to be so. Moinuddin Ajmeri, a great and renowned
scholar, got
up and directly addressed Abul Kalam Azad by saying
“Judge yourself candidly how much are you really
worth”. From these
opening
words, it is obvious, what would
have been the tone of the rest of the speech. Disappointed and
dismayed, Maulana Azad
withdrew himself from his
religious mission and soon after
he
joined Indian National Congress.
[*10
The word ‘Shaikh’ traditionally referred to a person with deep spirituality and extensive knowledge of religious matters. Whereas the word ‘Imam’ is broader in connotation in as much as it connotes a person with qualities of political and social leadership as well as accomplishment
in purely religious
disciplines.]
Even long after Maulana Azad left the field, the echo of
his clarion
call continued
to resound vibrantly in Muslim India. And within ten years a courageous young man
named
Syed Abul A’la Mawdudi founded the
Jamaat-e-Islami. He regarded
Abul Kalam
Azad as ‘dead’ because he
has forsaken
his mission.
Maulana Mawdudi then recreated this mission with great determination and
brought out a monthly journal similar
in name to Azad’s
exegesis of the Holy
Qur’an, ‘Tarjuman-ul-Qur’an’.
Through this journal, he
presented to the Indian Muslims a plan of action to achieve the same ideals of the
sovereignty of Divine
Law
and regeneration of the faith.
Maulana Mawdudi had less enthusiasm than Abul Kalam Azad. He was intelligent, but not a genius. Yet
he was comparatively more diligent and industrious. For
the first six or seven
years he continued to work individually with great patience and perseverance. For some time he
also
worked in an institution called
‘Darul Islam’ and
finally laid the foundation of Jamaat-e-Islami in 1941 and
thus started a well-organised effort. Before
the establishment of the Jamaat he criticised
severely the stand of those religious divines who were in the Indian National Congress or were supporters of it, and he
by his forceful
arguments showed
that their association
with the Congress would
extremely
jeopardise
the interests of both
Muslims and Islam in India. Then he also
criticised
the nationalistic politics of Indian Muslims with strong arguments, and proved that their policy was contrary to
Islamic ideological
principles. His own Jamaat-e-Islami was founded on the highest idealistic level of true Islamic
principles. The manifesto
of the Jamaat-e-Islami consisted of the
following:
1.
Islam
is not a religion in
a limited sense;
it is
a complete code of life or ‘deen’, a perfect ideology. By
its
very nature it demands
total application on all spheres
of
life.
2.
‘Ibadat’ or worship in Islam is not merely
the performance of rituals and canonical prayers,
but total obedience to Allah’s commands.
3.
Muslims cannot be considered merely as a nationalistic group. They constitute a Muslim Ummah, ‘the people of Allah’.
The
bond
that unites them is their faith. Their
foremost aim should be
to bring about a change
in
the whole world according to their faith and to put the
Islamic system
of
life into practice.
4.
The Majority of non-Muslims of the present world are
legally
non-Muslims.
Actually they
are not to be considered non-Muslims as they
have not been invited
to Islam
and hence the
question of acceptance or
rejection does
not
arise.
5.
The majority of Muslims in the
world are
Muslim
only
legally and through parentage, not by genuine faith.
The fundamental religious beliefs of Islam are
not
at all deeply entrenched
in their
minds and hearts, nor do
their
actions show abiding faith in the
Islamic code of
law.
6.
The fostering of the national interests
of
Muslims, the protection of their political rights and the struggle for their political independence have
little
to do with the genuine
revival of the
faith and
an Islamic renaissance.
7.
The real task before the
Muslims is
two-fold: first they
must summon mankind to the worship of Allah (SWT)
and
total obedience to Him, without any distinction of
caste, colour or creed and to invite them to accept the ideological principles of Islam. Secondly, the energies of those upon whom
Allah (SWT) bestows
the courage to embrace Islam with full commitment,
must then be consolidated and pooled in a well-organised
group to struggle systematically for the ‘establishment of the
sovereignty of Allah’s command and the ‘supremacy of the
Islamic way
of
life’11.
[*11
It is noteworthy here that, after the establishment
of
the Jamaat-e-Islami,
Maulana Ameen Ahsan Islahi joined the
movement and contributed his distinctive Qur’anic thought. Then the term ‘sovereignty of Allah’s command’ (Hakoomat-e- Ilahiya)
was
altogether dropped
and
instead the purely Qur’anic terminology of ‘establishment
of
Deen’ (Iqamat-e- Deen) and ‘testifying to the truth’ (Shahadat-e-Haqq) began to
be used in Jamaat’s literature.]
8.
In this
struggle an educational and
ideological
revolution occupies the primary place. After this a practical and moral reform should be
instituted, along
with
social improvements. Lastly, a change of
governmental structure should
be established.
We take this position to be tinged
with
extreme radicalism and idealism but at the same time we consider it ideologically and
basically correct. Together with other revivalist efforts, the rise of such an ideologically
‘pure’
movement was the
need of the time.
We must praise Maulana Mawdudi that he and his associates remained firm on this stand continuously for six years in spite of
sarcasm, ridicule and
tough opposition meted out
to them by all. This movement offered fine
and perhaps rare examples of dedication and
it formed a brilliant
chapter
in the history of devotion to the Islamic cause. In this way,
the
true task of the revival of Islam, the task which had
been blue-printed by Maulana Azad, was in fact initiated
in
earnest and for
some time carried
on
by Maulana Mawdudi.
But
most unfortunately, Maulana Mawdudi and his
Jamaat-e-Islami did
not
remain firm on this
programme. In 1947 the national movement of Indian Muslims met with success
and an independent
homeland
for
them,
called Pakistan, came into being. It was thought now that in this new state a political movement in the name of Islam could
be started for achieving
the envisaged goals.
Maulana Mawdudi thus abandoned
his fundamentalist
position
regarding the slow-paced and step-by-step methodology of
Islamisation,
although no
ideological
revolution
or tangible moral change had occurred in the society. The Jamaat plunged actively into the field of politics, hoping
to guide and reform the Pakistani government along Islamic
lines and capture political power itself. On the contrary,
with the passage of time, their expectations were hopelessly disappointed,
and gradually the
whole movement bogged down in dirty politics, failing to heed the
Qur’anic warning:
But he clung to the earth (Al-Qur’an 7 :
176)
The Jamaat-e-Islami was also forced to compromise on principles and sometimes altogether
sacrifice its pure
Islamic ideals for
political expediency.
At
first the Jamaat
assumed that a truly pious
government
could
be established just by raising the slogan of Islam and by dint
of
their own prowess. When other
political parties offered co-operation, it was turned down with great indifference
and
disdain. But the result of the
Punjab election of 1951
shattered this self-confidence. After that it was thought
that
the Jamaat could overcome the
obstacles before
it through alliance with other religious groups. But soon this
also
proved impractical and unfruitful. When, even after
all
its compromises, the religious ideals upheld so far by
the
Jamaat proved too
demanding to
win
wide-spread public support,
it descended
to a still lower level
of political action, and a struggle was
launched
to go forward in the name of democracy and for
this
joined hands with avowedly secular
political parties. During
General Ayub
Khan’s regime that lasted eleven years, the
Jamaat
thoroughly dedicated
itself to the ‘worthy’ task
of restoration of democracy. But after the
downfall of Ayub Khan, the later
government proved
astonishingly even more
corrupt and undemocratic than the old one.
At
present we do not intend to write a historical essay,
or
to predict the future of Jamaat-e-Islami. The
most important aspect of this matter in which we are interested
here
is
that due to the persistent deviation in the
objectives and methodology of the Jamaat-e-Islami, there remained in the Indo-Pakistan subcontinent no vanguard
for
a purely Islamic revival. Till the present time, no
effort
has been made to fulfil this vital role which had been envisioned by Abul Kalam Azad and his 'Hizbullah' and taken up for a time by Maulana Mawdudi's own Jamaat-e-Islami, which is
now
moribund. The process
of revival is
still going ahead slowly on a political and national basis, and the
activities of Muslim scholars and divines
have increased in their own particular sphere. But
a purely religiously
motivated and radically active movement for the
transformation of society no
longer exists.
This change in the basic principles and methodology
of
the Jamaat-e-Islami was brought about
in
1947 when Pakistan came into existence as a separate homeland for the
Muslims of
the subcontinent. For
about ten years Jamaat continued to forge ahead on the basis of its
own
momentum, and many of its sincere
supporters were not even
aware of this shift in Jamaat's ideals and policy. But by 1957 this discrepancy
gradually became
painfully
apparent and a severe protest developed
over the party's program.
Consequently,
the majority of
the senior members as well as some of the rank and
file
left the Jamaat.
Among the
junior members who
resigned from the Jamaat was also the writer
of
these lines. The outgoing
senior members then devoted themselves to
their
own
private projects, but the present author could not erase
the fond memory of the 'paradise lost' engendered upon his mind under the
impress
of
the Jamaat-e-Islami.
He was only twenty-five when he left the Jamaat. He
was
not a scholar, nor did he have much experience. So
he passed ten long years in suspense, hoping
that someone from among the former
senior
members would come
forward to initiate the movement anew. But perhaps Allah
(SWT) had not willed
it so.
In 1966-67 he gathered
up his
energy and determination, and decided to devote himself to the
Qur’an, in remembrance
of
the Qur’anic verse12,
"Verily, this Qur’an guideth unto that which is straightest"
(Al-Qur’an 17
: 9)
[*12
It is interesting to note that this verse of the Holy in Surah Bani Israel comes just after those verses which delineated the
resemblance between
the Jewish people
and
the Muslim Ummah, which have been discussed in this track. The outline of
Jewish
history began
with a reminder
to them of their
own sacred Book, the Torah: 'We gave the scripture to Moses (AS) and We appointed it a guidance for the
children of Israel' (17 : 2).
This section ends by referring to the Qur’an. As Jewish community had been established on the basis of a Book of
Revelation, after their condemnation the new community
(Ummah), that of the Prophet Muhammad (SAW) was established on the basis of another scripture, the Qur’an. The renewal
of this
Ummah must therefore be based upon the
Qur’an, getting back to its message and living by its teachings.]
And so the present author started on his own work
of Islamic 'dawah',
inviting people
to Islam by educating them in, and calling to, the
Qur’an. Allah (SWT) accepted this humble service and, starting from small study circles of Qur’an, in a matter of few years in 1972 the Markazi
Anjuman
Khuddam-ul-Qur’an
(Central
Society
of the Servants of Qur’an) was constituted in Lahore,
Pakistan. Two years
later,
he announced
the formation of 'Tanzeem-
e-Islami'
for the
revival of Islam
in
its pristine purity.
He is
fully aware of the
fact that he does not possess
the
genius or talents of Abul Kalam Azad, nor the
capacity and industry of
Maulana Mawdudi.
He is
neither a brilliant orator nor a uniquely skilled writer. But, thanks to Almighty Allah, he remained fully
conscious
of
his duty throughout, and this awareness constantly keeps
him restless. The sense of the
trust he bears to Allah (SWT) has compelled him to take a plunge into the arduous
task of calling people
to Allah (SWT).
Those who are bereft of the courage and ability to
think above their
sectarian prejudices and
limited personal idiosyncrasies are
surely not capable of responding
to this call. But those who can dedicate themselves to a cause after
considering
and approving its fundamental ideals
and
objectives should consider our message seriously.
It is incumbent upon them to judge our
standpoint and efforts candidly and with an open mind. And if they find it
based on truth and sincerity, co-operate
with
us wholeheartedly and
with full determination, in
any case, we, in our humble way, have taken a
leap and are determined to march forward in our mission:
"IN
THE NAME OF ALLAH BE THE COURSE AND THE MOORING"
(Al-Qur’an
11 : 41)
(Prayer of Noah (AS) as he launched the ark, and
of
pilgrims
as they set out for Makkah)
End
Coming Soon..... FASTING AND POWER
